Hannibal King (Earth-616)
, , | Relatives = | Universe = Earth-616 | BaseOfOperations = San Francisco, California; formerly Borderline Investigations, Boston, Massachusetts | Gender = Male | Height = 5'11" | Weight = 190 lbs | Eyes = Brown | Hair = Brown | UnusualFeatures = | CharRef = | Citizenship = American | MaritalStatus = Single | Occupation = Private Investigator | Education = | Origin = Vampire | PlaceOfBirth = Milwaukee, Wisconsin | Creators = Gene Colan; Marv Wolfman | First = Tomb of Dracula #25 | HistoryText = Early Life Hannibal King was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He was a skilled P.I. who made a modest living; King was bitten by the Vampire known as Deacon Frost while working on a case in London. When he awoke he realized he had become a vampire, King was disgusted was horrified by the transformation and vowed never to feed from a human. King purchased blood from blood banks and feed on animals to sustain his existence. King also decided not to use his new powers in his work deciding to really on his own natural skills, but was now forced to only work at night. Meeting Blade While searching for the vampire that bit him, he met met Blade, the vampire killer. At first the fought but became a mutual allies as Frost was the one who killed Blade's mother. Hannibal easily defeated Blade but due to their mutual missions they decided to work together. They waited in Frost's apartment for his recent victim to rise as a vampire. When he awoke he explained he dug up a coffin had an exact copy of Blade. Blade and Hannibal King continue their hunt for Deacon Frost, they wondered how Frost intends to take over the world with a duplicate of Blade. Blade and King went to London so Blade can visit Saffron. Blade and King find the "Doppelgänger" and he reveals that he was created to destroy him. The two fight, but Blade stops when the two are beginning to fuse together upon physical contact. Hannibal King tried to rush to Blade's rescue, however he was too late to stop the merger from completing. With the vampire doppelgänger in full control of their unified body, it set it's sites on King. The Doppelgänger attacks King, and despite his savage fury, he is easily fought off by King who stabs the faux-Blade in the chest with one of his own wooden daggers, sending the imitator out a window allowing Hannibal to escape. King is still fleeing from the vampire doppelgänger of Blade and their fight crashes into Dracula's party. Deacon Frost is among the crowd and he watches eagerly as this is all part of his on going plan. Furious of Blade's interruption of his party Dracula attacks and is shocked to find his long time vampire hunter foe is now a vampire himself. As the battle rages, Anton takes Domini, already visibly pregnant somewhere safe. Blade appears to have the upper hand when he stabs Dracula in the back with one of his wooden daggers. However, Dracula turns around, and mocking the fake Blade's inferior skill to the original impales the vampire doppelgänger in the chest with a stake killing him. Darkhold While investigating the murder at the hands of the Darkholders, King contacted Doctor Strange, the Sorcerer Supreme. With the help of Doctor Strange, King discovered that the Darkhold contained a spell not only to create vampires but destroying them. However it is also revealed that Dracula had once again been resurrected. King along woth Blade and Frank Drake, visited Castle Mordo the home of the powerful sorcerer Baron Mordo to retrieve the Darkhold. They battled Dracula and the Darkholders, and then used the book to cast the Montesi Formula. The formula destroyed all existing vampires along with Dracula and also prevented any new vampires being created. King however was not destroyed along with the other vampires a he had never taken blood from a living person, Doctor Strange however still had to perform a complete blood transfusion for King to survive. The transfusion however returns him to a human. Nightstalkers Frank Drake. They formed their own investigation group called Borderline Investigations, but they were better known as the Nightstalkers. With Doctor Strange, they fought the Darkholders again. They then battled them alone without the aid of theSorcerer Supreme. King later accompanied the Defenders as one of their many rotating team members. The makeshift team helped stop the plans of Minvera Bannister. The agency discontinued after Drake left and Blade was committed to a psychiatric hospital following a battle with a temporarily resurrected Dracula. Doctor Strange later arranged the release of Blade so that he could join Drake and King in reforming Borderline Inc. as the Nightstalkers. The mother of all demons, Lilith, hired Blade's agency to kill Ghost Rider -- the leather-clad, motorcycle-riding Spirit of Vengeance -- and bad-boy Johnny Blaze, the fiery skeleton's former host. After a protracted battle, Blade and company realized they had been duped. The team joined with Ghost Rider and Blaze against Lilith, battling her monstrous minion Meatmarket. Blade, Drake and King continued their partnership with Ghost Rider and Blaze. Along with Dr. Strange, Morbius the Living Vampire and the Darkhold Redeemers, they formed the Midnight Sons, a group dedicated to preserving the boundaries between our world and the dark realms. The Midnight Sons clashed with Lilith and her demonspawn, the Lilin, in a supernatural contest with Earth as the prize. The Midnight Sons proved victorious, destroying Lilith and her brood. Blade also rescued his close friend Safron Caulder from the Darkholders. The Nightstalkers also battled other threats, such as Hydra's D.O.A. (Department of Occult Armaments). King became a part time member of the Midnight Sons. King and the team work with the Punisher (Frank Castle) to battle Shiv a dangerous cult leader. Working together they are able to stop the cult from sacrificing any more people The team battle various supernatural threats such as Stonecold and Vic Slaughter along with the return of the D.O.A They also encountered the dreaded Short Circuit teamed up with an evil alternate reality version of Hannibal King. Blade's desire to destroy supernatural enemies led him to be tricked into using the Darkhold. As 'Switchblade' Blade attacked a number of supernatural beings and stole their power in the 'Midnight Massacre'. King and the Nightstalkers eventually stop Blade and another page of the Darkhold was used to restore things back to normal. The worked with the Darkhold Redeemers to battle Martine Bancroft and the The Lilin. Who even Doctor Strange could not help. King and the team battle a new threat called Bad Timing began working with Lilith. The Lilin then teamed up with The Fallen. King and Blade battle Bloodstorm a clone of Dracula and the first of a line of vampiric shock-troopers utilized by Hydra's D.O.A.. He was created in a lab by Lt. Belial, but as soon as he emerged, he began slaughtering all the Hydra personnel present, including Lt. Belial at the hypnotic command of Varnae. Upon the eventual weakening of the Montesi Formula, and the return of vampires, Blade encountered and staked a former ally, a now-vampiric Taj Nital. However, the team was unable to prevent its hated quarry, the vampire, from returning to the Earth realm. Blade, Drake and King, who again had become afflicted with vampirism, began their crusade anew to cleanse the world of all bloodsuckers. Blade and his partners clashed with dread lord Varnae-- supposedly the first vampire, the demon who had visited this hellish curse upon men. King and Drake were slain in a bloody and futile battle. The loss of his compatriots only strengthened Blade's resolve to rid the world of vampires, regardless of the circumstances of their creation. Following their victory, King was cured of his vampirism. He remained with the Nightstalkers as Blade left the team for New York. Dracula Lives Deacon Frost teams up with Marie LaVeau to take over mafia crime in New Orleans as a staging area for greater conquests. As Dracula lives, but is not currently acting as Lord of Vampires, Deacon captures Blade, Hannibal King, and Brother Voodoo to establish his rep among the undead in a power grab. The heroes free themselves from the trap and Blade battles Deacon Frost to a stalemate. Deacon escapes, and Blade vows to hunt him down. Tatjana Stiles King later set up a small shop in San Francisco where CIA agent Tatjana Stiles hired King to investigate the vampire Navarro, who had stolen a number of biological weapons. King was captured by Navarro and forced to feed on a live human to prevent their being turned into a vampire. King and Tatjana ultimately destroyed Navarro, but Tatjana was horribly injured. She begged King to make her a vampire in order to save her, and King gave in, taking his second human life. Working with Spider-Man Spider-Man goes undercover a to Club Jugular in an investigation into Zombie. While poorly attempting to pass as a Goth, he runs into Hannibal King and Lilith Drake. Lilith and Hannibal began fighting one another, while Pete changed into Spider-Man. As he entered the fight, Lilith tossed him through a window. Hannibal failed to obtain the amulet from her, and Lilith eventually escaped. Spider-Man and King decide to team-up to track Lilith down. King told him about the amulet, and that the Zombie is actually responsible for the recent abductions.They tracked Lilith to her lair, and resumed their fight. Lilith wanted to enslave King, and turn him into her personal vampire general. King naturally refused the offer, and succeeded in snatching the Amulet of Damballah. He then ordered the Zombie to attack Lilith. Lilith broke free, but it was clear now that her current operations in New York are hopeless. She managed to evade capture once again, just as the sun began to rise in the sky. King has the Zombie crated up and shipped to New Orleans. He traveled ahead to confer with his client, Donna Garth. Donna is the daughter of the once-human, Simon Garth. King hands her the Amulet of Damballah. James Lucas King assisted Blade in London where the latter confronted Draconis, a vampire impervious to all forms of exorcism. The two vampire hunter later battled Union Jack. Back in the US King and Blade help Spider-Man battle the criminal Fracture. Blade's father Lucas Cross offered a way to restore the souls of all vampires, but in additional the effect would remove all of the vampiric weaknesses. The spell was dependent on Blade, who refused to provide invulnerability to his sworn enemy. Blade attempted to enlist King against Blade's father, but King refused, and attacked his former partner for denying him one of his greatest desires: to see the sunrise again. Blade staked King, leaving behind only a smoking stain on the cobblestones. He returned to life along with all the other vampires that Blade had killed, and Blade however decided to give him a potion that would stop him needing to feast on blood. | Powers = * Vampirism: Hannibal King is a vampire and possesses all of the various superhuman attributes commonly associated with vampires. **'Superhuman Strength:' Like all vampires, King is superhumanly strong and possesses about 10 times the strength he possessed as a human, allowing him to lift about 1 ton. **'Superhuman Speed:' King can run and move at speeds that are beyond the physical limits of the finest human athlete. **'Superhuman Stamina:' King's musculature produces less fatigue toxins during physical activity than the musculature of a normal human. He can physically exert himself at peak capacity for a period of several hours before the build up of fatigue toxins in his blood begins to impair him. **'Superhuman Agility:' King's agility, balance, and bodily coordination are enhanced to levels that are beyond the natural physical limits of the finest human athlete. **'Superhumanly Acute Senses:' King's senses of sight, smell, and hearing are enhanced to superhuman levels. King, like all vampires, has exceptional night vision and can see with perfect clarity in near-total darkness. He can also detect sounds that ordinary humans can't, even at great distances. His sense of smell is also acute enough to detect the scent of blood in the air, which he can use to track and injured opponent if necessary. **'Regenerative Healing Factor:' Like all vampires, Hannibal King can rapidly regenerate damaged or destroyed bodily tissues faster and more efficiently than an ordinary human. King can regenerate from multiple bullet wounds, knife wounds, or severe body wide burns within a matter of hours. However, he isn't able to regenerate missing limbs or organs. **'Immortality:' Though King isn't technically alive, he is functionally immortal for all intents and purposes. Since he isn't alive, he is immune to the effects of all known Earthly diseases and infections. As long as he feeds on fresh blood on a regular basis, King's aging process is completely halted as well. **'Shapeshifting:' King, like all vampires, possesses a limited shapeshifting ability and can transform into a bat, a wolf, or as a gaseous mist. He retains his full intelligence in these forms and typically uses them for the purpose of traveling faster than he can while in his human form. **'Weather Manipulation:' King, like all vampires, possess the ability to greatly manipulate the weather over a limited area, such as creating immensely powerful thunderstorms. However, manipulating the weather in such a way leaves him physically and mentally drained for an extended period of time. **'Hypnotism and Mind Control:' Like all vampires, King has the ability to hypnotise most beings just by making eye contact with them for a few seconds. While under his influence, he can force people to do his bidding, though beings of great will power can resist him. King can also mentally control other vampires that he himself has created, or rather he could if he ever did sire other vampires. * Former Powers After his restoration as a vampire, Hannibal seemed to be more resistant to sunlight than normal vampires. His need for blood was also greatly diminished. | Abilities = * Hannibal is an excellent detective and a good hand to hand combatant. | Strength = | Weaknesses = * Vampirism Weaknesses: Hannibal King possesses all of the typical vulnerabilities common to vampires. ** Blood: The most basic and well known weakness of King, or any other vampire, is the need to regularly ingest blood in order to maintain physical vitality and a youthful appearance. However, King restricts himself by refusing to feed upon the living. If he were go to for a long period of time without feeding, King will steadily weaken until he eventually suffers a kind of second death. **'Religious Icons:' Hannibal King can be affected by being exposed to religious icons, such as a Christian crucifix or the Jewish Star of David. The size of the icons is irrelevant, but the faith of the one holding the icon that can cause extreme levels of fear. If he is touched by one of these icons, he will suffer severe burns that will take much longer to heal than ordinary burns. **'Wooden Stake:' King can also be killed by having a wooden stake driven through his heart. For some unknown reason, the stake prevents the various mystical energies that empower a vampire from circulating through his body. However, removal of the stake from King will result in his immediate return to life. **'Silver:' Like all vampires, Hannibal King is particularly vulnerable to objects or weaponry composed of silver. If he is stabbed through the heart with a silver stake or blade, he will die in much the same way as if he were stabbed with a wooden stake. If he sustains injury from a silver weapon or object, his recovery time from the injury will be much longer than healing from an injury sustained from a weapon composed of more conventional materials. **'Sunlight:' During the daylight hours, King falls into a dormant, comatose, death-like state and will remain that way until sunset. However, if he were to be exposed to direct sunlight, his body will be incinerated within a matter of seconds. **'Native Soil:' King, like all vampires, must line his coffin or sleeping area with soil taken from the land of his birth. Otherwise, he isn't able to travel more than 100 miles from the place of his birth. | Equipment = | Transportation = | Weapons = He carries a revolver and sometimes uses other artillery such as his shotgun. | Notes = * Hannibal King is one of the many heroes mentioned in the Civil War Battle Damage Report. * Hannibal Kings early adventures are reprinted in Essential Series #The Tomb of Dracula. | Trivia = | Marvel = | Wikipedia = http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hannibal_King | Links = }} Category:Formerly Deceased Category:Flight Category:Regeneration Category:Shapeshifters Category:Silver Weakness Category:Solar Weakness Category:Icon Weakness Category:Midnight Sons members